Bengal Tigers

Asia houses many different and exotic animals, such as the Asian elephant, Indian rhinoceros, and the Indian Cobra. One of Asia’s most recognizable species is the Bengal tiger. Bengal tigers have vibrant coats, sharp teeth, and loud growls. Tigers constitute the largest cat species. Most tiger subspecies are much larger than the average housecat. These large cats once roamed the entirety of Asia, but in the last century, the populations have severely declined. Only five subspecies of tigers remain today. Three subspecies—the Caspian, the Bali, and the Javan—went extinct in the last two hundred years. When scientists noticed the rapid decline, many set off to research the species. According to a report by Joshi and Dinerstein, two of the thirteen

Bengal tigers make us the largest subspecies population alive. During the 1900’s, almost all of the tiger species became endangered, and three went extinct. Deforestation, human encroachment, and poaching threaten the Bengal tiger population today (Benson and Nagel). Deforestation across Asia is a major problem for many species. According to Endangered Species, “the primary threat to the tiger’s current survival is habitat destruction” (Benson and Nagel). Bengal tigers inhabit the rain forests, mangrove swamps, and grasslands of India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan. The territories of the Bengal tiger overlaps with some of the other tiger species. Many of the remaining wild Bengal tigers reside in the forested parts of India. India is the second largest country in Asia. Mountains and valleys separate the country, which give each region a vastly different climate. The weather patterns seem extreme for a country not even a third of the size of the United States. Some regions barely get any rain; other regions receive over four hundred and fifty inches a year. In one area, it can snow heavily, while a dust storm occurs somewhere else. The diversity of the ecosystems shows the adaptability of the Bengal tigers; they can live in many different regions of India and the surrounding countries. According to Worldmark Encyclopedia of Nations, forests should cover 33% of India, but only 21.6% of the land boasts tree cover (Gall and Jeneen). The trees do not counteract the polluted air or water, and in recent years, the deforestation rates in India have increased astronomically. As humans destroy more and more of the forests, the tigers must live in smaller and smaller areas with significantly less resources (Gall and Jennen 207). A group of researched completed a study about the state of Bengal tigers. They divided the remaining forests into “ranges” and monitored the change in area over the years. As